Steve Nash Also Frustrated With Dwight Howard

When Steve Nash is yelling at you then you know the problem is probably you, not whoever else you are blaming. Steve Nash one of the most unselfish players in the NBA, so if he is also complaining about Dwight’s lack of effort that is a serious problem.

For months, Nash has been talking about the Lakers needing to have “shared experiences” to grow together. That’s tough if the teammates are seeing the experiences from totally different perspectives.

That’s what prompted Nash and Howard to yell at each other in the third quarter of the Lakers’ loss Sunday in Miami.

In Howard’s eyes, he was open, so give him the ball. That has been Howard’s point of view much of the season: He simply wants the ball, wants his touches, wants his shots – and yet refuses to buy into the D’Antoni doctrine that “the ball finds energy.”

If Howard really lusts for individual offense so badly, why not try harder to get the ball? Even if he can’t explode like he did when he fully trusted his body, at least try to do something. Just look at how well things went even with makeshift non-Nash point guards for Jordan Hill – with a herniated disk in his back and other injuries before requiring hip surgery – when he simply rolled hard off picks.

Nash is not convinced Howard is incapable of playing pick and roll.

“We’d like to get him in the pick and roll more,” Nash said Sunday. “I think that’s how he was really good in Orlando. He’d pick and he’d dive and they’d swing and put it in to him, so he could get deeper catches and the help side has a more difficult time coming to him.

“I don’t know. It’s been difficult really to get him into that game – running into pick and rolls, diving hard, looking for the ball. We really haven’t found that rhythm from him yet.”

If Steve Nash can’t make you better, is there anyone out there that can help Dwight Howard?